[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1751-H1752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RUBY RIDGE: JUSTICE UNSERVED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the issue of values 
seems to be paramount in everybody's mind, values with regard to those 
held dear by our country, by individuals, and by families. But values 
really come from where we place the value on human life and how we 
appropriate the protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness from government. Today those values seem to be 
misappropriated, so I am going to speak to you today, Mr. Speaker, with 
regard to an incident that occurred in my district, and the serving up 
by the Government of an award for that incident.
   Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to publicly address a growing 
concern that I am hearing more and more of from my constituents, and 
from people all around the country--the continuing misappropriation of 
values by our Federal Government. I am not talking necessarily about 
the values, as typically described by the media, but the most basic 
value of how we as a government regard the individual's ability to 
safely live his life in an atmosphere of freedom and liberty, with 
mutual respect as each individual peaceably pursues happiness.
  My most recent concern arises out of what appears to another poor 
decision made by a Federal law enforcement agency in the wake of what 
has come to be known the tragedy at Ruby Ridge, ID. I am talking about 
the recent issuing of the highest awards of valor to Federal marshals 
involved in a shootout on August 21, 1992 that ended up with the deaths 
of 14-year-old Sammy Weaver, and deputy marshal Bill Degan.
   Mr. Speaker, I find it incomprehensible that after years of 
investigations by both Congress and the Justice Department about 
significant questions regarding the conduct of Federal agents involved 
in the Ruby Ridge disaster, the U.S. Marshals Service has chosen 
instead to hand out awards rather than sort out their mistakes and 
punish wrongdoing to ensure that such deadly mishaps don't happen 
again.
   Mr. Speaker, I attended much of the hearing in the Senate 
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Government Information that 
was chaired by Senator Specter. I listened very attentively to the 
testimony of Randy Weaver, and the U.S. marshals on their take of the 
events leading up to that fateful day of August 21, 1992. The committee 
listened to Randy's description of how agents from the U.S. Federal 
Marshals Service for a 16-month period executed an extensive 
surveillance of his home that included hundreds of hours of filming the 
everyday proceedings of his family with satellite powered cameras, 
setting up command centers in the homes of neighbors, and sending many 
undercover agents posing as supporters to the Weaver home.
  In addition, the U.S. Marshal's Service initiated military 
reconnaissance like missions to determine what would be the best way to 
invade the Weaver home. U.S. marshals on one of these missions excited 
the family dog by throwing rocks at it.
  The committee listened to Randy's agonizing unscripted depiction of 
how he made the most regrettable decision of his life when he sent his 
14-year-old son Sammy down the road with a rifle to see what the dog 
was barking at--and how those agents shot a young boy's dog at his 
feet, and how a Federal marshal, dressed in a terrifying 
paramilitary uniform, jumped out of the bushes and yelled ``Halt''--and 
how these events led to a gun battle that ended with the tragic death 
of Federal Marshal Degan, and of the young boy Sammy--shot in the arm 
and in the back--as he ran frantically up the road yelling ``I'm coming 
home Dad!'' Randy and his wife Vicki, no longer caring if they were 
fired at, went down the hill to retrieve the small body of their son.

  While a Justice Department investigation did find evidence that U.S. 
marshal Larry Cooper fired the shot that killed 14-year-old Sammy 
Weaver, the report failed to determine who actually fired the first 
shot. Kevin Harris, a friend of the Weavers, who was involved in the 
gunfight, testified before the committee that U.S. marshal Arthur 
Roderick fired the first shot, which killed Weaver's dog. The marshals 
claimed that Harris fired the first shot, which mortally wounded U.S. 
deputy marshal Bill Degan.
  Mr. Speaker, the Senate committee determined in their report that 
Harris' testimony was more plausible because Dean had fired seven 
rounds before he died. For the marshals' testimony to be true, Degan 
would have had to fire all seven shots after he was mortally wounded. 
The Senate committee also found it hard to understand why, if Kevin 
Harris had actually fired the first shot, the other marshals had not 
shot him dead in his tracks for killing Degan.
  Mr. Speaker, what was even more disconcerting was hearing U.S. 
marshals Roderick and Cooper propose during the Senate hearing that 
Randy Weaver was responsible for shooting his own son. This suggestion 
contradicts all of the facts and evidence which point to Cooper as 
being the only one who could have shot Sammy. Even the Government's 
position during

[[Page H1752]]

the July 1993 trial was that Cooper had shot Sammy Weaver. The 
committee has actually retained several experts to study the matter 
further.
  Mr. Speaker, at the same time there is an ongoing investigation into 
their sworn testimonies regarding their role at Ruby Ridge, Roderick 
and Cooper were among the five marshals honored last week.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition, several places in the Justice Department 
report deal with the possibility of a Government cover-up. After the 
gunfight, the surviving marshals were taken away to recuperate. The 
authors of the report stated that:

       We question the wisdom of keeping the marshals together for 
     several hours while awaiting interviews with the FBI. 
     Isolating them in that manner created the appearance and 
     generated allegations that they were fabricating stories and 
     colluding to cover-up the true circumstances of the 
     shootings.

  Those are the Justice Department's words, not mine.
  But the Marshals Service does not appear concerned with answering the 
Justice Department's concerns or learning from this tragedy. Marshals 
Service Director Eduardo Gonzalez said when asked why the service 
waited so long after the siege to announce the awards that he ``didn't 
think it was appropriate'' to hold such a ceremony while the Senate was 
holding formal hearings into the incident. This tells me that the 
director blatantly overlooked the fact the Senate, like the Justice 
Department, found fault with the actions of at least two of the 
marshals he honored.
  The bottom line is, Randy Weaver faced his accusers, stood trial, and 
answered for the only crime he was convicted of: failure to appear in 
court. While the Justice Department and Congress determined through 
extensive investigations that all the agencies involved were guilty of 
some level of wrong-doing at Ruby Ridge, precious little has been done 
to ensure such massive errors in judgment do not occur again.
  Mr. Speaker, how our Government has acted with regard to the tragedy 
at Ruby Ridge, and in other similar instances has had, and will 
continually have significant ramifications on how our people view our 
Government, and how Federal law enforcement will respond to the 
constitutional rights of citizens in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, the issue of how our Government is maltreating its 
citizens while ignoring the effects of its own unjust actions is very 
much on the minds of millions of Americans. They are asking how can it 
be possible that people such as John Poszgai, a Hungarian freedom 
fighter who escaped with his life and settled in Pennsylvania, can end 
up being sentenced to serve 6 years in a Federal penitentiary because 
his cleaning up of an old dump was considered a crime because it filled 
in a wetland. They are wondering just where our Government is placing 
its values when it gives the highest commendation possible to an 
individual for shooting a child in the back as he is running to the 
comforting arms of his father.

                          ____________________